Practicalmadness

Phil Ringnalda dissects the Movable Type 3.0 licensing terms in a blog entry/comment thread that quickly devolves into an argument between Shelley Powers and Everyone Else.

> I also don't think that Six Apart is trying to 'screw' their users...this is just Six Apart redefining the type of user they want now. So those of us who don't fit in this definition move on. Some of us saw the writing early, and moved on early. Others didn't and reacted, yet even with anger, because frankly, they weren't expecting to have to face a decision about whether they were going to continue using MT 3.0 when it came out. And yes, this makes software users very peevish.

When Ben emails Mark Pilgrim and Anil responds selectively to some people and not others, this just continues that same damn class structure, that same insider/outsider thing that I've been watching Six Apart, and friends, foster over the last year.

Speaking as an end-user with no personal relationship with Ben, Mena or Anil, and no real emotional investment in Six Apart despite having been selected as an early alpha tester of MT 3.0, my immediate response to what Shelley is saying here is whaaaha?

So is she saying that Six Apart, because of this so-called "insider/outsider thing," is saying that anyone who isn't a close personal friend of Ben and Mena, who are such suckers as to pay $70+ for a license, are no longer wanted as MT users? Is she suggesting that because Six Apart is a larger business and not just Ben and Mena participating in a utopian, communal blogosphere, that they'll be unresponsive to the needs of bloggers? That because they're having trouble making the transition from being a mom-and-pop to being a corporate start-up, they can no longer be trusted?

Shit, man -- I ain't nevah trusted no Six Apart. I think 6A has seriously screwed up the MT3 launch, that in their rush to get this thing in the hands of developers they put out marketing materials and even license agreements that needed weeks, if not months, of additional work. Their identity crisis (only exacerbated by the very emotional responses to this release) is keeping them from having the self-awareness they need to be successful at marketing MT 3.0. You gotta know yourself in order to sell yourself.

I still think that had 6A announced their intention to charge for multiuser, multisite MT licenses but released MT 3.0 as a free "technology preview" with plans for adding way-cool features prior to its release as a commercial product, we would not be having these arguments.